Log of the Nantucket Whale Ship Richard Mitchell, 1829 – 1831
Manuscript
Small folio, 161 pages of manuscript entries.
Price: $8000
The “Richard Mitchell” was built in 1829 and was rated at 386 tons. Her owners were P. Mitchell & Sons, the same family that owned the ill-fated whale ship “Globe.” Her master, David Baker, was a seasoned captain who undertook four Pacific whaling voyages between 1826 and 1841. This log was kept by first mate Otis H. Snell, and it records the “Richard Mitchell’s” short maiden voyage, commencing July 1829. She returned to Nantucket in September 1831 with 3012 barrels of sperm oil, making this voyage a very prosperous one. Snell’s entries record daily position of the ship, weather conditions, sail handling, ships spoken, and notes on whales taken. It is an excellent record of a Pacific voyage in the great days of Nantucket sperm whaling, and is notable for containing at least 60 whale stamps (many highlighted with red ink) from six different wood or ivory blocks, including the largest whale stamp I have ever seen. This is a complete logbook, water stained at the tops of many pages, but legible throughout. Bound in old sheep over worn marbled boards, Housed in a tan linen clamshell box with leather spine label. Most unusual!
